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Thomas Becket

29/12/2017

The subject of the life and death of Thomas Becket is one the most written about and studied in history, and nearly everybody knows of this man's death at the hands of four murderous knights.

Stained glass window of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral

Thomas Becket was the son of wealthy city merchant Gilbert Becket, who saw to it that his son was well educated. Becket became Chancellor and good friend of Henry II. His patron was Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury. Only a few months following Theobald's death in 1161 Becket was nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury and took up this position following the conformation by royal council on the 23rd May of 1162. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he became a strong defender of the Church and the rights of those under him and this was the beginning of his fall from grace.

His quarrel over the role of church and crown with Henry II ended in his horrific death at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. It was on this very day in 1170 that Hugh de Morville, Reginald FitzUrse, Richard le Brito and William de Tracey, knights of Henry's court stormed into Canterbury Cathedral and murdered Becket, slashing him repeatedly with their swords.

At the time Becket's death provoked widespread outrage, but soon he had a cult following and there was talk of miracles.

The four knights had misinterpreted Henry's angry rantings as an order for sanctioned murder and it is still unclear whether it was Henry's intention to have Becket killed or not, but the blame for his death did land firmly on his shoulders. In punishment, Henry was banned from taking Mass until he had completed a penance and following this, the king promised to provide money for two hundred knights to go on Crusade.

The four knights who took Becket's life left for Scotland were excommunicated on the 25th March 1171 and exiled to Jerusalem after which they disappear. It is thought that after nearly fifteen years fighting in the holy land they each returned home to their respective manors, other stories have them being buried at a Templar church on the site of the Temple of Solomon.

In the three images above you can see depictions of the death of Becket, the first can be found on the south porch of Chartres Cathedral. The carving is dated to between 1194 and 1230. The second is an ivory representation of Becket's martyrdom dated to around 1400 and the third can be found in a manuscript held by the British Library.

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Consecration of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

28/12/2017

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There has been a religious building on or near the site of Westminster Abbey since Saxon times and one even earlier if the legend of the conversion of the Temple of Apollo into a Christian church is to be believed. However, the origins of the building we have come to know have its roots in the time of Edward the Confessor.

It was during his exile in Normandy that Edward vowed to make a pilgrimage to Rome if he should ever take the throne of England. Edward did become king but he soon became concerned that the country would be vulnerable to attack, and this prevented him from fulfilling his vow. Pope Alexander III, however, released him from this promise on the condition that he built an abbey in honour of St. Peter.

Edward was good to his word, he re-endowed and enlarged a small Benedictine monastery on the banks of the River Thames to create his new church, work began in the years between 1042 and 1052.

Edward's church the Collegiate Church of St Peter was consecrated on the 28th December in 1065. Of the construction, a monk of the French Abbey of St Bertin’s wrote:

“Outside the walls of London … stood a monastery dedicated to St Peter, but insignificant in buildings … . … The king , therefore … gave his attention to that place, for it both lay hard by the famous and rich town and also was a delightful spot, … … decided to have his burial place there. Accordingly, he ordered that out of the tithes of all his revenues should be started the building of a noble edifice, worthy of the Prince of the Apostles; so that, after the transient journey of this life, God would look kindly upon him, both for the sake of his goodness and because of the gift of lands and ornaments with which he intended to ennoble the place. And … there was no weighing of the costs, … so long as it proved worthy of … God and St Peter”.

Only one image of the confessor's church exists and this can be seen depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry where we can see a workman placing a weather vane on its roof. King Edward was a deeply religious man, it was for his devotion to God he received his name the Confessor, maybe this is why we can also see the hand of God appearing through the clouds in a gesture of blessing.

As the date of the abbey's consecration approached, Edward's health deteriorated and he was too ill to attend. Only eight days later the king was dead. Edward's church survived until the reign of Henry III when it was demolished and work on the present Westminster Abbey began in 1245.

Henry's Gothic masterpiece was consecrated on 13th October 1269.

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Battle of Radcot Bridge

18/12/2017

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Radcot Bridge is the first bridge over the River Thames as it enters the county of Oxfordshire, it is also reputed to be the oldest bridge on the river. The Patent Rolls in the reign of King John state

'Sciatis nos recepisse in custodiam et protectionem nostram fratrem Aylwin qui reperacionem pontis de Redeot
suscepit et homines et res suas'.'

"Know that we have received in the custody and protection for our brother Aylwin, who took Redeot
reperacions (?) the bridge of the people and their property"

In the history of medieval warfare, this ancient crossing of the Thames has been mentioned twice.

One incident that took place in 1645 was a civil war skirmish, the Royalist vanguard of Lord George Goring, who was on an order to join Charles I's troops at Oxford, came across a small parliamentary force scouting the area for a place to cross the Thames which resulted in the bridge coming under the control of the Royalist party. The first and not dissimilar skirmish took place in December of 1387 when the Royalist forces of the Earl of Oxford were defeated by the army under the command of the Lord Appellant.

The crisis that had come to a head at Radcot Bridge had really begun ten years previous when ten year old Richard of Bordeaux had become King Richard II. At the centre of the troubles was Richard's reliance on favourites - a group of young nobles of his own age, two of which would find themselves on opposing sides, they were Robert de Vere, who would lead the royalist forces at Radcot Bridge and Thomas Mowbray who would be one of the five members of the Lords Appellant. Mowbray, of course, would eventually feel the wrath of the king years later, however, Richard would stay loyal to Robert de Vere.

Robert de Vere, the 9th Earl of Oxford received the Earldom when he was nine years old, and it is easy to see why the two boys formed a friendship, their fates were linked by the loss of their fathers and the sudden 'gift' of money and power- all the things that can lead the young astray. In the year of Richard's ascension to the throne, Robert de Vere was knighted along with the king, Henry, the Earl of Derby, the future Henry IV and Richard's uncle Thomas of Woodstock. As the days of Richard's minority turned into years, resentment and anger in court was building, Richard resented his ambitious uncle John of Gaunt, and his favourites envied Gaunt's power and status - it has been suggested that Robert de Vere was the ringleader of a plot to murder Gaunt. Robert de Vere benefited greatly from his friendship with the king he was given his own rooms in Richard's castles, granted estates, gifts and other nobles' inheritances. He was also given the title Marquess of Dublin, yet he never set foot in Ireland.

At the royal table, favourite Robert de Vere can be seen sitting on the right of Richard II

By the end of 1387, the Lords Appellant had Robert de Vere at the top of their list of traitors, however, it was not just the king's younger friends who were targeted, Richard's Chancellor, Michael de la Pole, was second on that list.

Pole owed his place in Richard's court to his father William, who had supplied ships and lent money to Richard's grandfather Edward III. William de la Pole didn't benefit greatly from the association with the royal family but Michael did, he was placed in Richard's court to advise but was really manipulated by the charismatic young king. He too was rewarded by but found himself on the wrong side at the wrong time - a family trait it seems.

By December, the Lord Appellant numbered five their case against Richard's favourites ended in a charge of treason. Michael de la Pole was impeached, but despite Richard's involvement he was forced to flee to France, however, Robert De Vere, with more bravado than military experience, stood his ground.

Fosse Way heading away from Stow on the Wolds

Robert de Vere raised an army of about five thousand men, they headed for Northampton but their way was blocked, and he was forced to take another route along the Fosse Way to Stow on the Wold. In the third week of December, he had reached Radcot Bridge, but at this crossing over the Thames, he was intercepted by the small force of Henry Bolingbroke, who in order to impede de Vere's progress broke the central navigation arch - a grant of pontage (a toll raised for repair to buildings and bridges) was issued in 1393 to repair the damage. At this point suggested 14th-century chronicler Thomas Walsingham, de Vere nearly turned tail and ran but was 'encouraged' to continue with the fight by his men. It was Walsingham who also suggested that de Vere was homosexual. Robert de Vere's force was encircled and after a short clash of weapons he was quick to realise the danger of his position, he soon abandoned his men, leaving many of them to the mercy of their enemy and made his cowardly escape by crossing the river, supposedly in disguise, and headed to the Netherlands.

A year later, in what has come to be known as the Merciless Parliament he was found guilty of treason, and a death sentence was passed in his absence.

Robert de Vere spent the rest of his life in exile, thus avoiding the executioner's blade. He died in 1392, leaving Richard II bereft.

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Sheffield Cathedral and the Talbots

15/12/2017

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The Talbot's became one of England's most influential families under the reign of Tudors. George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, was a wealthy man owning much of the City of Sheffield he and his large family, he had eleven children, were living there by 1520. Before his death in 1538 Talbot had built a special chapel to house the bodies of his descendants, but five hundred years later, nearly all of them have gone missing.

George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, with his two wives at Sheffield Cathedral.

When workmen were digging up the floor of this chapel at the beginning of a renovation project they came across the entrance to the Shrewsbury tomb. Following this find, archaeologists opened up the sealed crypt and found fewer bodies than they had expected, only two of the seventeen remains that were supposed to be there were in place. The crypt was last opened in 1809 and it was recorded then that these bodies were missing. The remains found were that of the seventh Earl, Gilbert Talbot who died in 1616 and one noble who has been identified as a Henry Howard who lived during the eighteenth century. Archaeologists are considering three different reasons to account for the missing bodies. Firstly, body snatching, the lead that the remains would have been interred in has also vanished. Secondly, that the remains may at some point in time removed from the chapel and taken to different locations. Lastly, and more interestingly is the possibility that there is a secret wall concealing the true location of the bodies.

Cathedral officials have been collaborating with historians from the University of Sheffield in an effort to hunt for the missing bodies. The Dean of Sheffield, Peter Bradley has said:

'We will be working closely with our partners at Sheffield University to solve this mystery, as one of the missing bodies belongs to one of the most important men in Elizabethan England - George Talbot, the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury.'

Two of the three images above show the wonderfully elaborate memorial to the 6th Earl who is lying on a mat wearing elaborate armour, his feet resting on his trusty hound. Also picture is the tomb of George Talbot the 4th Earl, alongside his two wives Anne Hastings and Elizabeth Walden.

The hunt is now on to find out what happened to these people that whose remains are missing:

George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1538)
Mary, Lady Talbot - wife of the fifth Earl (d. 1538)
William Talbot, Marshal of Ireland - son of the fourth Earl
Francis Talbot, fifth Earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1560)
Thomas Talbot - infant son of the sixth Earl (d. 1565)
Gertrude, Countess of Shrewsbury (d. 1566)
Mary, Countess of Northumberland (d. 1572)
George Pierrepoint (d. 1573)
George Talbot - infant son of the seventh Earl (d. 1577)
Elizabeth, Countess of Lenox (d. 1581)
Francis, Lord Talbot (d. 1582)
George, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1590)
Charles Cavendish (d. 1594)
Henry Talbot - brother of the seventh Earl (d. 1595)
Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury (d. 1632)

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Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector

9/12/2017

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Oliver Cromwell, you either love him or you hate him, there seems to be no in-between. It was on the 16th December in 1653 that he became Lord Protector.

I have always been confused by Cromwell, he was a man with the right ideas for reshaping Stuart England, but his strict religious beliefs only offered the country one way to achieve it.

It seems to me that Oliver Cromwell was stuck at a fork in a road, often proceeding in one direction only to change his mind before he reached his destination. As the head of the Council of State with advisers he had appointed (not a good start,) Cromwell wanted the people of England to follow the word of god, but with the freedom to think for themselves. He understood the importance of a strong parliament, he wanted its members to be honourable and trustworthy, men that the population would trust and support at a time of crisis, Cromwell considered this the way forward. Fine values you could say, however....

Cromwell was a Janus, the parliament he set up he dismissed on two occasions when they disagreed with him, he wanted a government with the authority to control, but kept a large army to suppress if necessary, he wanted people to be comfortable in their beliefs, but forced them to follow a strict Puritan regime, coming down hard on the population if they stepped out of line.

Oliver Cromwell's parliament had ordered the execution of Charles I for his belief in the right of succession then insisted that his son step into his shoes. Cromwell didn't fully understand, until it was too late Shakespeare statement

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

Oliver Cromwell, I feel, was a man with the right basic ideas who failed to realise that applying them would not be easy.

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Thomas Becket

Consecration of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

Battle of Radcot Bridge

Sheffield Cathedral and the Talbots

Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector

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